By Way of Secrecy
by sleepysora
Summary: They are sworn by the witch's code on their first day off. To make the best use of their powers, their duty is to help those in need. All new witches must be aware of their goal to help their neighbors and hide from those who wish to hunt them down, by way of secrecy. Anyone who breaks that secrecy risks the lives of witches all around. Soriku. Inspired by Kiki's Delivery Service.
1. Ventus

**By Way of Secrecy**

Written for a friend and heavily inspired by Kiki's Delivery Service.

* * *

Chapter 1

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

Sora's delayed doubts were drowned out by the roar of the wind around him and the rush of the trees below. He thought to gain altitude and avoid their thrashing branches, but going too much higher up would put him at more risk of the raging winds. Not to mention he thought he might have seen a strike of lightning somewhere in the distance. He didn't want to end this year-long journey prematurely because he got barbequed.

Sora shielded his eyes from the rain with an arm, the other wrapped securely around the broom between his legs. It was hard flying like this, because sometimes the wind would hit him strong for an instant and blow him off course. He would nearly fall then, quickly grabbing the broom with both hands to desperately orient himself before he could plummet into the trees. But the rain pelted his face so heavily he couldn't see what was ahead of him.

"I guess we should land somewhere…" Despite the circumstance, there was still uncertainty in his voice. What Sora wanted was to find the next nearest town as soon as possible. There he would be able find a cozy and dry bed for the night. But as it was there were no towns in sight and all around him Sora could only see endless trees below and the raging sea to the left. He had thought that following the ocean would have been a smart idea. How was he to know that storms were at their worst closer to it?

A high-pitched whine coming from the creature huddled underneath Sora's chest agreed very much with his last statement. Sora tried to give his miserable familiar a reassuring stroke, but the motion threw him off when another gust of wind struck his broom and he went violently twirling in the air. By the time he was able to recover, both of them were dizzy and ready to throw up.

"Okay… let's land somewhere…" Sora finally resigned, shaking his head to clear his senses. At first he thought the flash of light was just his imagination, but then it came again; quickly, and then it disappeared. Sora looked, waiting for the light to reappear. It did—only for an instant—before disappearing like before. Sora pointed his broom toward it and approached carefully until he could see what it was he was looking at. A coincidental strike of lightning in the distance aided him.

"It's a lighthouse!" Sora piped, his momentary drop of guard almost causing him to lose control again. "We can sleep there tonight." Picking up speed, Sora flew toward the towering form of the lighthouse which guarded the ocean beneath it.

Coming in through the window by the beacon, Sora removed the broom from beneath him and placed his two feet securely on solid ground. His round blue cat-like familiar was more than happy to join him in that. Sora chuckled as he watched it shake water of its pelt before proceeding to hop around, happy to be out of the air.

"Yeah. Sometimes it's better to walk."

They headed down the long stairway of the tower, careful of suspicious looking boards that might break under their weight and becoming a little spooked by the sudden squeaks of their steps and the howling wind outside. It only got darker as they neared the bottom and Sora's blue companion started to press itself against his legs as it hobbled underneath him.

"It's okay, Smoochies. This place looks deserted," Sora said, both to assure his familiar and himself. By the time they reached the ending of the stairway it was too dark to see. Sora decided now was an opportune time to try out one of the spells he had learned this past month. He took out a piece of crumpled paper from within the soaked bag slung around his shoulder, held it out in front of him, and spoke a chant.

Out of nowhere the paper burst into flames. So much so that it also almost engulfed Sora's hand along with the paper. Sora cried out and dropped the paper, stomping it out with his foot. He sighed when it was all over, only to jump with a start just a moment later.

"You gotta whisper that chant. Fire is easily excitable."

On instinct, at the sight of the human-like silhouette that appeared in front of him, Sora hid his broomstick behind his back. It did little to hide the bristles that were still visible between his legs. The form laughed good-naturedly and approached, whispering something quietly as it did so before a flame appeared in the air. It was small, yet still bright enough to light nearly the entire room.

There was a boy on the other side of the flame, holding up a piece of paper on which it burned. "See? This is how it should have worked," the stranger spoke, smiling softly.

Suddenly feeling indignant and embarrassed, Sora piped, "I know that!" The rise in defensiveness caused him to carelessly reveal his broom, which he then quickly tried to hide behind him again.

The boy laughed again, waving his hand dismissively. "Oh, you don't have to worry about that. I'm a witch, too!" And with that he turned away and picked up a broomstick that had been leaning on the wall just a few steps away. He turned toward Sora, holding it, still smiling. "See?"

Sora relaxed only slightly. Smoochies, still squeezed tightly between Sora's legs, sneezed. The other boy laughed again, moving away slowly. "You two must be beat. Come on. I have food waiting." As he moved away the light from his flame became dimmer. Sora and Smoochies gave each other one uncertain glance, but in the end the invitation was simply too promising to resist.

"My name is Ventus. But just call me Ven," the other witch spoke once he heard Sora following behind him. The boy was definitely older than Sora, but not by much. His blonde hair stood up in spikes that were almost similar to Sora's brown.

"I'm Sora," Sora replied, glancing around the dreary lighthouse wearily. They approached a table upon which a six-legged cat had been sitting. It hoped down and greeted its master by rubbing itself all along Ven's legs in a figure eight. Then it proceeded to dance over to Smoochies as if its extra legs made it lighter than air. The two cat-like creatures sniffed each other, then went off to chase one another around the tower.

Sora watched them, nearly bumping into the table as he kept walking. "Here, sit." Ven said to him, and Sora quietly obeyed. It wasn't until he actually looked at what was on the table that he spoke again.

"Wow! You prepared all of this?"

There were two plates on the table, upon which were piles of eggs, bread, cheese, and even ham. There were also two full glasses of milk. Sora stared at it hungrily, almost drooling. "Yep. Dig in," Ven invited, his voice unable to hide his amusement. Sora happily obliged, making himself a hearty sandwich made out of all of the above.

As he ate, he started to think. "How did you prepare all of this so fast? I only just got here," he asked between chewing. He suddenly thought that might have been rude and swallowed.

Ven did not seem offended in the least, always smiling. "I'm not that fast," he laughed. "I sensed you coming a while ago."

Sora paused and stared. "You did?"

"Sure! I could tell that you were following the ocean and I figured you'd more than likely rest here. So I made us something to eat."

Sora took another bite, chewing slowly. "I don't know how to sense things yet…"

"I could show you."

"Really?!"

Ven laughed again. "Sure. Once we're done eating." He sorted out a sandwich for himself and took a bite. "You know, this place is abandoned, so all of this food was spoiled when I got here."

Sora choked.

"But this potion makes any food as fresh as when it was first made, no matter how rotten." Ven added quickly, trying not to laugh as he pulled out a small vile from under the table. There was a red liquid inside that shined bright in the firelight. There was no doubting that it was a potion mixed by a witch and Sora very much believed in the validity of a witch's potion. After all, his mother was a potion brewer.

Reassured, he kept eating and added, "I only know the basics of potion making."

"Ah. Me, too. I didn't make this. My big sis—I mean, my friend made this." Ven gave the tiny vile a glance before handing it over to Sora. "Here. You can take this one. I have a few more. It might be useful for you."

Sora accepted the offer slowly, admiring the clear shining liquid inside. He frowned at it then, sighing softly. "I feel like I'm taking advantage of everyone I meet."

"How long ago did you leave?"

"It's been about a month, I guess… Is it that obvious that I'm a new witch?"

Ven laughed quietly. "I just figured. After all you're pretty young, and you must not have a town of your own yet if you're traveling around in this kind of weather. Plus being able to sense other witches is something you learn pretty early on in your witch growing process."

"I've been trying to find a town all this time. But every one I visit already has a witch. Most of them tell me to leave right away. Sometimes they let me stay for one night—some even teach me something. Just the last town I was in…Umm… his name was Leon—he taught me the fire spell, along with a few combat moves."

"Leon's a good guy. But I bet he kicked you out pretty quick, huh?"

"They all do."

Ven rested his chin on his knuckles, smiling sympathetically. "That's normal, though. If I had a town I'd probably kick any other witch out right away, too. The risk of discovery becomes a lot higher when there's more than one witch within a small vicinity."

Sora chewed slowly, staring at the table. A small silence passed by as they continued to eat. Smoochies and Ven's familiar eventually tired, and the big blue cat hobbled over to Sora's chair. He sniffed Sora's leg, lapping at it twice with his tongue to attract his master's attention. Sora chuckled at the cold tickle and placed a piece of ham and cheese together on the floor where then Smoochies proceeded to gobble it up in earnest.

Watching his familiar, Sora spoke, "So why don't you have a town, Ven?"

Ven was also staring down as he fed his own familiar a piece of bread. "Is it that obvious?"

"Well, you did say 'if I had a town' before. Plus, if you did, why would you be in this old lighthouse?"

Ven chuckled. "You got me. I guess I just never found the right town. I think I prefer it this way, though. I get to see all kinds of new places, plus I'm less likely to be found out when I'm traveling constantly."

"But what about the witch's code? How are you helping people if you don't stay in one place?"

Sora had leaned forward as he spoke, his face scrunched with concern, and Ven laughed again. "I'm glad to hear new witches still understand our priorities. On the contrary, I think I'm actually able to help more people by traveling around all the time. If I see someone who may need my help, I offer my assistance. Then I move on until I see someone else."  
Sora thought about this.

"To each his own. I think you can fulfill the witch's code in many different ways. Plus, I can accomplish a few other things by traveling around."

"Like what?"

"Oh… you know…"

Sora gave him a weird look. Avoiding it, Ven stood up and made his way slowly to the door that led outside. There was a small window and he glanced through it quickly, then he started to do something Sora could not make out. Figuring he wasn't really going to get an answer, Sora just shrugged to himself.

"My mom always told me about how important it is that we do our duty and follow the witch's code. She knew what her talent was almost immediately. She found her town and helped people and then she met my dad. So I kind of imagined something like that happening to me from the very beginning. I thought it'd be cool if I could find my own town and maybe find someone to settle down with, too. Like my mom did." Sora looked away as he spoke, listening to the wind roaring outside. His voice idled a bit as he thought back to when he was a kid pretending to go on this very adventure he was on now.

"You're still young," Ven replied, somewhat distractedly, as he knelt down to do something to the bottom of the door.

Still growing ever more discouraged, Sora sighed and dropped his head on his arms. Seeming to finally finish what he was doing, Ven stood up and rubbed his hands together. He frowned slightly, somewhat at a loss of what to say next. He wandered back to the table, picking up the now empty plates and carrying them to the dirty sink on the other side of the room. Once the clatter of discarded dishes died away, he spoke again.

"Buck up, kid. Everything will work out fine. You just need to take it slow."

Sora sat up slightly, looking at the door Ven had spent some time focusing on. By appearance nothing seemed to be different. "What did you do to the door?" He finally asked, possibly having not heard Ven's final words of encouragement.

"I put a seal on the door… just in case," Ven answered, a hint of grimness to his tone.

Sora never thought to ask why. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

Ven chuckled, walking back over to the table. "A lesson like casting seals cannot be taught overnight. Let's start with something more your level, like being able to sense other witches in the area."

Sora pouted slightly, more at being called out as a beginner than being refused a lesson. He stood up, however, and eagerly stood beside Ven. Always amused, Ven began.

"First, you have to focus… You can focus, right?"

Sora wasn't necessarily bad at catching on, but he could be slightly tricky to train. He got frustrated easily, but he never gave up. He pouted and moped about a lot of things, but in the end he persevered. By bedtime he could feel the waves of supernatural energy coming from Ven. He tried to memorize the feeling, but only moments after he wrapped himself in a tight ball of blankets on the wood floor of the lighthouse—wet clothes hung up to dry and Smoochies comfortably tucked in the curve of his bare stomach—he was fast asleep.

Morning had both young witches rising early to a sunny sky free of clouds. The ground below them still glistened with wetness from the past rain and the winds had died down almost completely. To one side the ocean was completely still.

"Good day for flying," Ven remarked as they rose up over the lighthouse on their brooms. Sora smiled, chuckling softly as his blue familiar sat contently in front of him. He looked over to Ven as they continued to rise slowly.

"Where are you headed, Ven?"

"Out west. I think you should head north."

He should've expected it by now, but Sora couldn't help but lose some of his good cheer at the casual dismissal. He'd thought, maybe once, he might be able to have some company as he traveled.

Ven must have sensed this, and he added, "I just have something I need to do. You should keep looking for your dream town." He started to drift away from Sora, smiling. "There are a few towns north of here. I have a good friend in one of them. She'll let you stay a day or two. I'll start heading that way after I'm done, too." Then, with a chuckle, he continued, "Hey, maybe by the time I catch up to you you'll have your own town already. Then you'll be the one kicking me out."

Sora laughed. The two young witches bid each other goodbye and flew their separate ways. Sora often cast a backwards glance to see where Ven went, but before long he was out of sight within the horizon. Sighing softly, he tried to ignore the feeling of loneliness. Smoochies gave a quiet chirp, and Sora smiled as he patted his head.

"Okay, Smoochies. This time we'll find our own town for sure!"

Smoochies squeaked in response, wiggling beneath him. Growing more hopeful as he looked over the calm ocean beside him, Sora headed north.


	2. The Red Tyranto Rex

Chapter 2

By sundown Sora had passed over three towns. He hadn't stopped at one.

Thanks to Ventus teaching him how to sense a witch's presence, Sora no longer needed to land in a new town and search for one by sight. He could feel them, though faintly, up in the sky. And he had sensed at least one in each of the three towns he passed. There was no point in exploring them, because why get himself excited when he knew there was no hope that any of these towns would be his? Though, somehow, seeing a town in the distance and quickly flying towards it only to sense that there was already a witch there was almost more disappointing than going in and finding them personally.

So Sora had spent the entire day in the sky, never once landing not even to eat. He took out a few quick snacks from his satchel throughout the day to keep him going. He tried checking his map once but the wind made it much too hard to read. So he just kept following the shoreline like he always had since leaving home a month ago.

It didn't feel right to fly for so long. He felt kind of guilty, because he knew Smoochies didn't even like flying to begin with, and he hadn't wanted to eat much all day. Stubbornly, though, Sora continued to pass up every opportunity to land.

_The witches in those towns will probably just tell me to leave right away_, _anyway,_ he had thought grumpily.

Now it was nighttime and he was tired and no longer so grumpy and starting to regret his decision to keep flying. He was sore from sitting on his broom for so long, but he still would have kept flying at least until a new town showed up if not for all the clouds that had gathered in the sky in the past hour. Though it wasn't nearly as windy as the night before and it didn't seem as though it was going to rain, the moon was completely veiled. Without any lights from the stars above or a town below, it would be impossible for Sora to safely make his way. He wasn't always the only one in the sky…

So he looked around for a place to land. Below him, stretching nearly as far as he could see, was dense woods. It was even darker below those trees and who knew what kinds of wild animals or aggressive dream eaters were lurking down there. He had no intention of finding out. Ahead and beyond was a clear field, but it was still quite a ways away and still a vulnerable position. No matter what, the only reasonable choice seemed to be the shoreline.

Veering to the left, Sora lowered his altitude and settled onto the beach. His blue familiar practically threw himself onto the sand, rolling over in it in exaggerated joy. Despite it all, Sora chuckled a little. He knelt down and scratched the Meow Wow's belly. "Sorry, lil guy. Tomorrow we won't fly so much." More so responding to the petting than the apology, Smoochies wiggled and purred contently.

The beach was long enough that Sora could set up camp without worrying about high tide taking anything away. However, all "set up camp" was for Sora was throwing a blanket and a pillow down on the sand. He fixed one last snack for him and Smoochies to eat before bed. With some chagrin, Sora realized that his food supply was running very low. As he sat on the sand, staring at the ocean and biting into his apple, he wondered vaguely why he hadn't stopped at a town, if only to restock.

"I'm so careless," he muttered to himself. He wondered when his poor mood would lighten and he would start acting like himself again. He had been feeling pretty crummy these past few days and had only started to feel better while talking to Ven. Maybe he really should have tried to talk to the other witches in the three towns. If they were friendly, he would probably feel better now. Maybe he would even have had a place to sleep for the night.

Sora realized he was quite lonely.

But there was no point in regretting now. The last town he had passed was at least two hours behind them. So, uncomfortable and slightly depressed, Sora settled himself down on his blankets and fell into a restless sleep.

At first he thought it was just part of his dream, the grunting. Maybe it was Smoochies snoring again. But it progressively got louder as Sora slowly woke up. It seemed like something was near him, but he was still too groggy to think about it clearly. He thought maybe it was his mom, vacuuming in the living room after he had fallen sleep on the couch in the middle of a hot summer morning. Then he remembered he wasn't home. Then he remembered he was outside on the beach, and there shouldn't have been anything near him except for his familiar.

Then something heavy smacked him over the head.

"Ow!" Sora sat up quickly, holding his head. He was about to yell something his mother would wash his mouth with soap for at whoever had hit him, but he froze when he heard the roar. Finally looking, he saw the back of a giant bright red Tyranto Rex standing only a few yards from where he had been laying. It was the beast's tail that had hit him, which was now swinging back and forth dangerously close to him. At the moment the dream eater hadn't noticed him, occupied with something on the sand.

Sora thought to grab his broom and Smoochies and fly away, but then he caught sight of just what had the Tyranto's attention. It was his satchel, torn and shredded on the sand as the dream eater tried to bury its muzzle into the pouch and dig out its contents. An irrational feeling of anger came over Sora like a torrential wave.

"Hey! Stop that—that's mine!" He hollered, leaping to his feet and charging toward the red beast. Startled awake, Smoochies bounced to his feet and looked around quickly in bewildered alarm.

The Tyranto hardly paid Sora any mind as he ran in front of its huge jaw and took hold of his bag. The strap was looped around one of its teeth and when it pulled up its head, the satchel came with it. Sora held onto it tightly, pulling back. "Let go!" He yelled, trying to pull it loose. The Tyranto just looked at him, its head held just high enough that Sora could still hold onto the bag on his tipy-toes.

Meanwhile, Smoochies had finally processed what was going on and charged at the Tyranto Rex, slamming his round body into its leg. The larger dream eater barely noticed, though it finally started to pull back against Sora's tugs. The young witch was effortlessly lifted off the ground, however the moment his weight was applied to the satchel, the strap snapped. He and the bag went flying and Sora landed face first into the sand.

A little scraped but not really hurt, Sora sat up and brushed sand out of his eyes. Upon looking at his destroyed bag, he could see that it had been completely emptied. Scattered around the sand ahead of him were a few inedible items, such as the vile Ven had given him and a memento from his mom.

That wave of anger just kept getting more violent and suddenly Sora found himself on his feet, facing the giant dream eater, and shouting at the top of his lungs at it.

"YOU GLUTTON! You ate all of our food! Why did you do that!? I was rationing that! There was enough for two more days! What are we supposed to do now?! I'm hungry! I bet you didn't even chew it! You even ate all my money! What did you do that for?!"

As he shouted he slowly closed the distance between him and the Tyranto and, of all things, the large red dream eater actually backed away. It blinked at him and growled quietly, confused and slightly intimidated. When Sora threw the ruined satchel at its face it flinched. It was looking down at him like a kicked puppy, and then suddenly Sora felt guilty again. With a loud and very exasperated groan, Sora threw his arms up and briskly walked away.

He found a few coins in the sand, but most of the bills were torn and worthless. There was no food left to speak of save for a few wrappers and crumbs. Behind him he could hear Smoochies scolding the Tyranto Rex just the same way he had, barking and jumping at it. In response the larger creature just whimpered deeply, and for the first time Sora was finally grateful that the thing seemed to be tame. If it had be a feral nightmare it probably would have eaten him first and _then_ gone to the satchel.

Trying to process these feelings of anger, guilt, and relief all at once, Sora knelt down and caught sight of the remains of his map, now completely illegible. With a loud groan, he dropped his head into the sand. With one final huff to the Tyranto, Smoochies bounced over and joined him.

"I didn't look to see how far the next down is… And there's no food. No money… What am I going to do?" Sora muttered into the sand. His anger finally subsided and now all he wanted to do was cry. But as he heard the large dream eater behind him begin to walk away, he got slightly mad again. "Well, I guess it's not your problem…" he said irritably, mostly to himself.

He wasn't sure how long he had stayed in that position, hunched over in the sand. Long enough for his neck to start to hurt. But he still didn't move, even when he heard the Tyranto Rex come back. Its loud stomping drew nearer until it was nearly on top of Sora. It breathed on him and growled in his ear. Sora didn't react to it and just stayed with his face buried in the sand. That is, until the dream eater roared loudly in his ear and the sheer force of its breath toppled him over to his side.

Sora looked at it finally, alarmed and slightly afraid but still feeling irrationally indignant.

"What!? Do you want to eat _me_ now? Well go ahead and try! But you'll just spit me out because I'm sour!"

As if to oblige, the red Tyanto opened its great mouth and came nearer to him. With a squeak Sora back away and tried to make a run for it. "I was just kidding! Don't actually eat me!" When he turned around the Tyranto Rex clamped its teeth firmly around the back of his shirt and lifted him in the air. "Ahh! Smoochies! Help!"

Finally lifting his head out of the sand, possibly just awaking from a doze, Smoochies became aware of the situation. He bounded after Sora as the Tyranto lifted the boy higher and began to jog down the beach with him. Sora held on tight to the items he had collected off the beach before as he was carried away from his "camp."

"Okay, so I'm probably not sour. But I still probably don't taste good! Have you ever tried human? I hope not… I haven't. But I can give you an educated guess that we probably don't taste good! No flavor at all! You would need dressing for sure. And I doubt you have that… Unless you stole it from somebody else—And you probably have!"

Maybe it was some kind of defense mechanism to keep himself from panicking. Though, if anything, this _was_ panicking. But somehow, as the giant red dinosaur of a dream eater carried him further down the long beach and he continued to speak nonsense to it, Sora actually started to feel calmer. He didn't honestly think that his life was in danger at this very moment. He was just inconveniently being relocated with no idea of when this little ride would be over.

Sora cast a quick glance behind, hoping to see his faithful familiar still keeping pace beside the Tyranto. To his confusion and slight concern, the blue Meow Wow was nowhere to be seen. As he stretched his neck back searching for Smoochies, the Tyranto Rex eased to a stop. Then, suddenly, without warning or hesitation, it released Sora 5 feet above the ground. He landed hard on his bum and had to take a few seconds to recover.

It was still very dark and there were still no stars out, so when Sora opened his eyes he wasn't quite sure what he was looking at for a long moment. However the horn made it very obvious.

"A boat?"

He stood up slowly, staring at the large silhouette out past the shoreline. The few lights emanating from its deck were nearly the only things that could be seen against the vast dark ocean around it. The boat was obviously very large even from a distance. It was just grazing the coastline of the beach Sora was currently standing on and pointed to head back out into open waters.

Suddenly Sora had the solution he was looking for.

"It's perfect! We'll just hitch a ride on that and by morning we should be at another town. Yeah! I—"

So excited about his new plan, as Sora turned around he completely forgot that Smoochies hadn't kept up with them. It was dark, so all Sora could do was search vainly down the beach. But he needn't go far, as his faithful companion came bounding out of the darkness suddenly with a broomstick in his mouth.

"Oh. Smoochies, you got my broom!" When Sora knelt down Smoochies bounced right into his arms, tail wagging furiously. Sora stroked his loyal companion on the head gratefully. "Thanks, lil guy. Guess what! I found us a ride for the night. Oh, no wait…"

Sora turned to look at the red Tyranto Rex, who was standing watching them patiently. "You found us a ride. Thanks!"

The giant dream eater gave a soft growl in response, which was partially cut off by a second blare by the boat's horn. The ship was starting to gain some distance back out into sea. Sora quickly took his broomstick in hand and prepared for takeoff.

"Uh-oh. Better catch it before it gets too far." As he spoke wind began to collect from underneath his feet. It steadily gained strength until it was strong enough for him to lift his feet up and still remain aloft. Smoochies leapt onto the broom in front of Sora as he began to ascend. The Tyranto watched them, a little bewildered, and Sora waved to it as they began to fly away and over the water.

"Bye! Thanks for the help!"

For the moment Sora had completely forgotten why he was angry only moments ago and watched the ship get steadily closer with great anticipation. Upon closer inspection, the boat was littered with crates and boxes and clearly nothing more than a cargo ship. Regardless, it was the perfect place for Sora to get some rest while still making progress on his directionless journey.

Sora avoided flying near the places where there might be people and landed closer to the bow of the ship. He dropped down between a collection of crates where he wouldn't be seen. The crates were cold and the floor was hard, but at least the air wasn't too chilly. It was hard finding a comfortable position but eventually he settled for leaning back against a crate with his feet up against another. Smoochies crawled into his lap and made himself comfortable. Sora smiled sleepily at him, scratching behind his ear.

"Tomorrow we'll find a better place to sleep. We'll stop at some towns and get some food… I'll talk to some people…" He was still feeling rather lonely. "I hope we find our town soon… I'd like to make some friends…"

And that was the last thought Sora had before finally drifting off into sleep.


	3. Cid

Chapter 3

It wasn't even the several blares of the ship's horn that woke Sora up the next morning, nor the sounds of people talking and moving around him. It took a great crane to come down and remove one of the large crates he was sleeping beside to wake him up. Needless to say, he came to with a great start. He had been surrounded on all sides with crates when he'd fallen sleep and now one was missing and he was exposed. Immediate expulsion of himself from this place was necessary.

He seized Smoochies by the scruff of his neck and all belongings he had managed to carry since yesterday and flew off nearly before he was even on his broomstick. Unaware of his bearings, he wound up darting past a few people who ducked out of the way yelling in bewilderment. Flying around the crates everywhere was like a maze but the second he saw an opening he flew up toward the morning sky. There was no time to linger and orient himself so Sora flew toward the first potential hiding place he saw.

It happened to be the roof of a building and he nearly plummeted himself on top of it. He lost balance and rolled over on himself, and his Meow Wow went bouncing away like a ball. The dream eater only awoke when his body came to a stop and then he glanced around him in mild confusion.

Sora's heart was pounding in his throat so hard he thought he might start to choke on it. He took a few deep breaths and then dared to peek around the edge of the roof down at the ship he had just narrowly escaped from. A few people were standing around the dock scratching their heads and looking at the sky. Sora held his breath until he heard one of them speak.

"Big ol' dream eater musta stowed away in the crates."

"Didn't get a good look at it."

"Thing went crazy."

"'least it didn't eat us."

The men joked a bit and then when back to their work of unloading the ship of the remaining crates onboard. Sora breathed out heavily and slumped against the roof. He put a hand on his chest, waiting for his heart to calm. Smoochies hobbled over to him and gave him a big reassuring kiss on the cheek. Sora smiled at his familiar with a soft chuckle, wiping slobber of his face.

"They didn't see me. Thank god." He released another long sigh. It wasn't that he was afraid of people seeing him, it was people seeing him _flying_ that was bad. There weren't too many excuses he could choose from to hide that fact that he was a witch after people saw him riding a broomstick. The identity of a witch being discovered was the biggest rule _not_ to break. His mother had made that quite clear to him before he left home.

But this time had simply been a close call. For now he was still secretly a witch to all save for a few other likewise witches. "Man, what a wakeup call." His heartbeats finally regulated, Sora got to his feet and climbed further up to the top of the roof. Keeping in the shadows, he flew up to a higher perch nearby to get a better look of his surroundings. What he saw before him took his breath away.

The town was massive; more like a city except in some areas the buildings were more rustic or suburban. Sora could nearly see the whole town from where he was, and when he finally looked he realized he had flown up to a great clock tower. Giant silver bells hung from intricate copper metal designs hanging off opposite ends of the roof. Without a second's warning, the bells began to swing. The entire structure seems to vibrate as they rang and Sora had to fly away swiftly lest his eardrums explode.

He made hast over the buildings, as it was daylight and it would be too risky to allow himself to be seen even from very high up. Sora noted, as he searched for another place to hide, that the bells sounded much nicer from a distance.

"This place is amazing." Sora allowed himself a little leeway as he flew closely around tall structures and descended closer to the town to get a better look at everything. He was about to find a place to land so that he could walk along the streets before the sound of a train interrupted his thoughts.

"Oh!" Away from the larger structures and over the smaller houses was an elevated railroad. It stood like a bridge, held up by thick concrete pillars. The tracks wound all around the city and then disappeared somewhere behind buildings further away. Sora saw the train as it traversed through the town and couldn't help but stare. "Cool..." He was completely unaware that he had stopped completely out in the open.

Smoochies began trying to catch his attention to make him aware of the risk they were in, but he was too late. With a startling screech, a small creature flew at them from below and flung itself into Sora's face. He shouted and immediately lost his balance, plummeting down to the buildings below. It was a fall far enough to break all of his bones, but, even with the bat-like dream eater flapping and shrieking in his face, Sora managed to give him and Smoochies just enough air so that they wouldn't crack their skulls when they hit the ground.

The landing was still rough. Sora was dazed and he was pretty sure he had hit something hard on the way down. When he opened his eyes he found himself in a short alleyway surrounded by fallen trashcans. The bat the still flying and screaming in his face and he tries to shoo it away as he struggled to his feet. Smoochies had landed on a bag of garbage quite nicely and was now leaping toward the bat giving out his own aggressive cry.

The bat was successfully distracted by Sora's companion and the two dream eaters proceeded to scream and shriek at each other. Every once in a while Smoochies would try to leap at the bat and it would fly away but then come right back down. Sora quickly found his broomstick and swiped it at the bat. It seemed persistent in annoying them to death before a voice came and then suddenly it was silent.

The bat retreated to the end of the alley and around the corner came another boy. Sora blessed his quick reflexes for once and instantly tossed his broomstick away and into the piles of garbage behind him. He didn't know how lucky he was that he had done that so quickly, as anyone else would have dismissed it even if Sora had stalled. This person, however, was very different from all the other people.

Immediately the other boy gave him a suspicious glare. Sora jumped a little, because no one had ever looked at him that way before; like he was suspect. His mind raced, because it was important for Sora to decided if this boy was looking at him in such a way because he had been seen flying or because this boy was simply unfriendly. Maybe this alley was simply this boy's turf. Who was to say that he had seen Sora flying on a broomstick in the sky?

Sora gulped deeply and decided that standing here silently and continuing to participate in this staring contest would not help his case either way. He broke the silence with a nervous chuckle and shifted his weight. The other boy didn't move. The bat-like dream eater that had been tormenting him a moment ago was now perched obediently on the boy's shoulder, glaring at him just as intently as its apparent owner.

"Uh, hey. Um… cool, uh... dream eater. I have one… too…" Sora gestured awkwardly at the other dream eater before looking down at his own. Smoochies was hissing, which wasn't something he did often. In fact, Sora couldn't recall a single moment he had ever seen Smoochies hiss before. Needless to say that did nothing to ease Sora's nerves. He dared to look back at the other boy to see his reaction, which, not surprisingly, hadn't changed from his perpetual glare.

Sora was growing impatient with it enough that he wondered if this kid even had any other expressions. This little break in his nervousness gave him room to gawk briefly at the stranger's very silver hair. How strange, he thought. He had never seen such a color on someone's head. No one on his island ever had silver hair. And even from a distance Sora could make out his sharp eyes that were either very green or very blue—or both.

He sighed deeply. Regardless of this boy's irregular appearance he was still just another boy, right? Why should Sora be so afraid of him? That was what Sora thought when he finally decided to book it. He knelt down and took his Meow Wow in his arms. Even as he began to walk Smoochies never stopped hissing. Sora smirked as he neared the stranger, still a little nervous but steadily growing out of it.

"Sorry about him. He… uh, doesn't like strangers? Yeah… I should get going."

And that was it. He walked past the boy and left the alley, and though the stranger had watched his every move very closely, he'd made no attempt to grab or harm Sora. Once he was out on the populated sidewalk he heaved a great sigh of relief.

"Man, what was that all about? My back is killing me… Now we have to walk. I'll have to come back later for my broo—oooo—oom—room—ROOM! Yes, let's find a room! We're off to find a room!"

Sora would have to make a mental note to stop speaking aloud to himself, as people were likely to sneak up behind him and overhear as the silver-haired stranger had nearly just done. Just as the other boy emerged from the alleyway behind him Sora quickly began to walk ahead down the street. He didn't look back but he could just feel the other's eyes burning into his already sore back. He prayed loudly in his head that the boy wouldn't follow him.

But what good was praying when every person had a mind of their own? Of course Sora's luck entitled that the silver-haired stranger _would_ follow him and no matter how hard he tried without looking too obvious he wouldn't be able to lose him. After nearly an hour of walking aimlessly around the streets hoping the boy would just give up, it was Sora that gave up instead.

"Let's just ignore him," he whispered to Smoochies, careful not to speak too loud though he was surely too far ahead of the boy to be heard. Consistently the stranger had kept a good distance between them as they walked, though he was in no way hiding the fact that he was very definitely _following_ Sora.

Stalker or no stalker, Sora couldn't let today go to waste. He needed to stock up on supplies after that mishap with the Tyranto Rex last night. Food was his priority at the moment, as he hadn't had a thing to eat since that night. He was positive that Smoochies was just as hungry as he was, though he barely showed it as the uncharacteristically defensive dream eater kept a sharp eye on the stranger as they walked.

The streets of this town were made up of brown bricks and cobblestone. The cars that drove upon them were more cluttered in some areas than others. All of the buildings he passed on the sidewalks were of many shapes and sizes. Sora found it all very interesting. So much so that he was nearly able to completely ignore his lingering guest.

"Food… food… Ah!"

A smaller building with a cute garden in front had a sign on the door that read "café." Just the word had Sora's stomach growling with earnest. The building had two floors, though it more resembled a house. It stood out like a sore thumb between the larger, stiffer buildings all around it. There was a short walkway that led up to the door and in the window of the upper level was a sign that read "Repair Shop."

As Sora approached the door he felt a little silly just walking in, as the building so much resembled a house. He wound up knocking, which turned out to only be more silly.

"Ya ain't gotta knock. Just come in!"

Sora quickly obliged and entered. Inside was small but roomy enough for there to be several small tables and chairs for people to sit. There were only two people inside who seemed like customers, sipping coffee and reading the paper. Inside seemed even more like a regular house, almost as if turning it into a café had been an afterthought. Past the café area down a hall Sora was actually able to see a bedroom.

"Hey, kid. No pets."

Sora jumped a little at the voice and looked over at a man standing behind a makeshift counter on the other side of the room. Smoochies was standing very close to Sora's legs. He seemed much calmer now that they were out of eyesight of that stranger and he was peering around the room curiously.

"Uh, he's trained."

"Whatever. You gonna gawk all day or are you gonna buy somethin'?"

Sora quickly approached the counter and the man standing behind it. He was a burly older man with a hard look on his face. Certainly not like any café owner Sora had ever met. "Um… I'm hungry," he introduced himself with for lack of anything better to say.

"I figured. Whatcha want, kid?"

It occurred to Sora then that food cost money, obviously, and he turned away to dig into his pocket for whatever he had left. A few coins was what it wound up being and he decided to just dump the handful on the counter. "That's all I have. What can I get with that?"

The man looked down at the coins closely, blinked, and then grimaced. "You couldn't buy a pack o' gum with that pocket change."

This news was most devastating to Sora. "But that's all I have!"

"Then go back home and ask yer mom fer more money! 'til then ya can't afford any food here." The impatience in his voice was obvious, but Sora hadn't gotten this far by always doing as he was told. He usually wouldn't resort to this, but he was rather desperate.

With an audible sigh Sora collected his money and picked up Smoochies, who had begun to wander out of boredom and curiosity. "C'mon, Smoochies. We'll get something to eat somehow." Sora made sure to sound pathetic and helpless enough without sounding _too_ pathetic and helpless. He could be a pretty good actor when he had to, if he did say so himself. He made a slow pace for the door and as he drew near he wondered if he'd have to try something else—or maybe this old guy was just too hard to take pity on him.

"Eh… hold up, kid."

Bingo. Sora had to fight the urge to smile. "What?"

The café owner was scratching the back of his head, looking off slightly in thought. "I guess I could give you… a small something…"

Sora was back at the counter quickly; perhaps a bit too quickly, but it didn't matter anymore. "Really?" He asked eagerly. The man frowned, perhaps catching on, but he proceeded to reach under the counter anyway.

"Yeah, uh… Here." He placed a small roll on a napkin in front of Sora. It wasn't exactly a meal, but Sora wasn't about to turn it down as hungry as he was.

"What about my Meow Wow?" He still had the dream eater in his arms, which gave him a picture perfect moment to look even more needy and helpless. The man groaned a little as he reached under again and pulled out a slightly smaller roll. After placing the roll and Smoochies down on the floor, Sora sat at one of the stools and ate with earnest.

The man watched him as he did so with a deep frown. Sora thought for a moment as he chewed. "Thank you, mister, and can I have a glass of water?" He decided it was proper to say, though his mouth was full when he chose to say it.

"Don't say that all in one sentence, especially with your mouth full. You know, I think you're really just a spoiled brat." But even as he said it, the café owner turned and retrieved a glass. Once he'd filled it he placed it heavily onto the countertop. Sora seized it and good a large gulp to help swallow the mouthful of bread.

The older man was leaning against the counter, still watching him. "So where are your parents, kid?"

"Home."  
"Where's home?"

"Destiny Islands."

"Where in Sam Hill is that?"

"Uhh… pretty far from here at this point, I imagine."

"You run away?"

"Nope. I'm on an adventure."

"Is that another term for running away?"

"Nope."

The man sighed, feeling like he was getting nowhere. Sora hummed to himself, feeling quite carefree now that he was eating. On top of that he was talking to someone, which is something he'd missed doing ever since he and Ven separated.

"So if home's really that far away, how have you been gettin' along with just pocket change, kid?"

"My name's not 'kid.' It's Sora."

"Cid. Answer the question, _Sora_."

"Well I _had_ money. But a Tyranto Rex came and gobbled it all up."

Cid sighed again. Sora was done with his bread and feeling quite a lot more cheerful now that he wasn't so hungry anymore.

"Hey, what's this town called?"

"You serious? You're in Twilight Town, kid. Don't ya have a map or somethin'?"

"The Tyranto ate that, too."

"Of course."

As Sora finished his drink it occurred to him for the first time that he hadn't found out yet if this town had a witch already. On first impression he quite liked this town, so he figured it'd be better if he found out sooner rather than later. Setting his drink down, he concentrated on the empty stool next to him. He felt some part of him drift away and get of feel of the immediate area. When it came back to him, he didn't feel that telltale spike of energy that he usually felt when there was a witch nearby. This was good news.

"What's up, kid. You got a weird look on yur face."

Sora blinked and looked back up at Cid. He wondered what he looked like while he was trying to sense for other witches. "Uh, nothing… I was just wondering where I might be able to find a place to sleep tonight." Taking every opportunity he could, Sora leaned forward and smirked brightly.

Cid stood up straight, his hands on his hips firmly. "Nice try, kid."

Sora laughed a little. "I wouldn't be me if I didn't try." And with that he turned on his stool and stood up. Smoochies had just finished licking up the last of the bread crumbs off the floor and quickly bounded after Sora toward the door. Sora held the door open and gave Cid a wave. "Thanks, Cid. I woulda starved without you."

"Yeah, whatever," the older man responded curtly. Then, after a moment, "Don't go sleepin' in the alleys, okay?"

Sora smiled with understanding, assured that at least he had a backup if all else failed. He really was grateful.  
Once outside Sora gave a long stretch, feeling as though he'd just woken up from a good sleep. "Ahh. Now I'm all fueled up and ready to go! C'mon, Smoochies, let's see if this town has any witchhh…—uuwwww—WATCHES. Watches—let's go get a watch!"

During that pit stop Sora had entirely forgotten about that strange silver-haired boy and any possibility that he would _still_ be intent on following Sora around town. Suddenly his bright mood wasn't so bright the moment he saw the stranger leaning against the neighboring building watching him with those same suspicious and leery eyes.

A little frustrated, Sora met his gaze. When the other boy didn't look away, Sora just turned and left with a small huff. Right now it was important that Sora look for a place to sleep and also double check that there really were no witches in this town. He was still determined not to let this weird guy ruin his mood. After all, there was a very real possibility that there were no witches in this town—more real than it had ever been before. The thought made Sora want to sing.

He didn't know the first thing about how to claim a town as a witch, but for the first time since he left home it seemed like it might actually finally happen. He had started to think it might be impossible. So even with a stranger tailing him, Sora had a large grin on his face and a skip in his step as he continued down the streets of his potentially new town.


End file.
